Pastor Guilty Of Molesting Girl

Popular Leader In Delray Beach Faces As Many As 12 Years In Prison

October 28, 1998|By SCOTT GOLD Staff Writer

Joseph Millien, a poor bookkeeper in Haiti who reversed his fortunes to become the charismatic and revered leader of a Delray Beach church, was convicted on Tuesday of sexually molesting a young member of his congregation.

A six-member jury deliberated for about two hours before convicting Millien, 46, of sexual activity with a minor. The charge, a first-degree felony, was related to his fondling of a teen-age girl in his parish, under the guise of confirming her virginity.

The jury found Millien not guilty of charges that he later developed a more involved sexual relationship with the girl. Millien, who remains the pastor of the Full Assembly Church of God and leader of its 300-member congregation, faces as many as 12 years in prison.

Dozens of members of the congregation crowded into the West Palm Beach courtroom on Tuesday. There were so many supporters that parents, unable to find seats for their children, ordered them to kneel in the aisles between the courtroom benches.

Many of Millien's supporters, who consider him something of a cultural guru, wept openly after the verdict. One woman collapsed in her husband's arms when Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Howard C. Berman ordered Millien back into custody. He had been released from jail under house arrest.

``Our church has never been stronger,'' said Marie Rodriguez, a member of the Full Assembly congregation. ``We have faith. Pastor Millien will be delivered.''

In all, three women who are now adults, wives and professionals say they were molested by Millien when they were teen-agers. Their stories are similar: Millien demanded to confirm that they were still virgins and fondled them shortly after they arrived from Haiti.

Two of the women say they later developed full sexual relationships with Millien but did not question it because of his stature in the community. Some of the alleged abuse took place more than a decade ago. Because of statutes of limitations, charges were only brought in connection with one woman's accusations.

In an aggressive defense, West Palm Beach attorney Richard G. Lubin attempted to write off the charges as the product of a conspiracy launched by a faction of the church seeking to oust the pastor.

According to the defense, the faction was looking to anoint one of ``their own'' as pastor. In the process, members of the congregation were hoping to cash in on a $1 million policy the church has against sexual misconduct by its pastor, Lubin said.

But the theory was fatally flawed: Millien confessed to police that he had fondled the girls. He did not confess to developing full sexual relationships with them, but his tape-recorded statement to police was the key to the prosecution and the basis of his conviction.

Lubin also hoped to discard the confession. Millien testified last week that he was pressured into confessing by Delray Beach detectives who told him that he had no other choice.

``I want you to do the right thing,'' Lubin told the jury. ``The mere fact of an accusation doesn't mean anything.''

But in his closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant State Attorney Andy Slater attacked the defense, noting, for example, that Millien never mentioned a conspiracy to police during his statement.

``It's nonsense, what Mr. Lubin would have you believe,'' Slater said. ``Is there any mention of a conspiracy? No. Where does this conspiracy come from? It comes from Mr. Lubin's mind.''

Slater called Millien's attacks on the police ``disingenuous.''

``He is an American citizen,'' the prosecutor said. ``He knows what this country is all about. He fled Haiti to escape the type of tyranny he's now accusing the police of. Why is he doing that? He wants to save his neck. Make no mistake about it.''

The defense made one thing clear: Someone is lying.

Lubin was preparing to bring a slew of women to the witness stand to testify that they were pressured and offered money to take part in the coup by creating molestation accusations about Millien. Berman refused to allow jurors to hear most of that testimony.

That decision will be the basis of Millien's appeal, Lubin said later.

Slater suggested that it doesn't matter.

``They are lying,'' Slater said. ``It's the defense witnesses who are lying.''

In testimony, Millien was described as a pastor who oversees all aspects of his congregation's life, including who parish members can date and when they can go on vacation. He guides immigrants carefully into American society, overseeing their negotiations when they rent an apartment or buy a car.

At one point, one member of the congregation testified, parishioners were ordered to bring their television sets to the church. Seen as instruments of immorality, the TV sets were smashed and destroyed in a nearby vacant lot.

The women who brought the charges against Millien said they considered him more of a parent than their own parents, a fatherly figure whom they trusted with their deepest secrets.